An investigation has been launched by Saudi Arabia's religious police after a British businessman was reportedly attacked by some of its members for using a women-only cash till at a supermarket.

Video footage has emerged which appears to show Peter Howarth-Lees as he is jumped on by a member of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, also known as the Mutawa, outside the supermarket in Riyadh.

In the video, after a woman appears to intervene, Mr Howarth-Lees, can be heard shouting 'That's my wife, how dare you.'

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Video footage has emerged which appears to show Peter Howarth-Lees as he is jumped on by a member of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice outside the supermarket

An investigation has now been ordered by the head of the Mutawa into the incident, it has been reported.

Mr Howarth-Lees, who is married to a woman from Saudi Arabia, was attacked after members of the Mutawa followed him out of the shop, The Telegraph has reported.

A statement apparently written by Mr Howarth-Lees and posted on to a local website describes how he and his wife were directed to the female cashier before three men approached them and objected.